Why Should You Write Articles ON TOPICS ALREADY COVERED?

Dear Rowena

I don’t understand the need to write articles on HR when there are already a lot of HR articles out there. Many things have already been said. What more can I add to the conversation? Also, I don’t really want to sell myself or draw too much attention. I’ve never really written much before this and anyway, I wouldn’t know where to start. But more than anything else, I prefer to just do the work I need to keep doing and keep a low profile. Do you agree? Regards Caroline

Dear Caroline

I understand that, for many people, especially those who have not written much before, this idea and the process of getting things started can be extremely daunting. But permit me to change the way you’re approaching this.

Rather than see this almost as a chore, you could view it as an opportunity because that is what it is. A wonderful opportunity to make your presence felt - for the right reasons. It’s not entirely true that you’d much rather just keep doing your work. You, like many others in your organization and outside, want to do good work. You also want to be heard and to be treated with respect. You want your viewpoints to be considered, and in many situations, you’ll also want to be able to influence and impact people, processes and situations.

Articulating your views about selected topics is a necessary and useful part of this process because you cannot simply obtain the level of influence and authority you expect by simply doing your work. Doing good work is a given but raising visibility, making sure that the right people around you are aware of what you do, the impact you have and the vision you’re supporting are part of what is needed in order for you to be accepted.

In the early days of writing articles and interviewing HR leaders for the magazine I co-founded, HR Matters Magazine, I too grappled with the idea of making my ideas heard. In my situation, having not originated from an HR background, I found it unsettling to voice any opinion on HR issues. But after having been in the industry for years, I realised that you gain experience, ideas, approaches and form your own thoughts on how things are and how they should be. I started to experiment with sharing my thoughts slowly at first and as validation came in, more frequently. Once you begin this process, it is as Ryan Holiday puts it, “the obstacle is the way”. This means that there is no shortcut. There is no way for you to get the knowledge and insight into this quickly. Sure, you can read articles and books to get some guidance but the bulk of the learning is through the act of doing.

What can you add to the conversation? A ton, if you want to. You have a unique set of experiences and you’re molded by your circumstance, upbringing, culture and all the choices you’ve made through your life. Therefore, while there may be times you have an opinion or approach similar to another, you may arrive at it in a distinct way. All these myriad factors create a dazzling range of possibilities, opinions and ideas floating around from one person to the next.

You may not want to draw attention to yourself because you do not want to appear cheesy, arrogant or over-exposed. I understand that but you cannot simply sit and wait to be recognized for the work you do. You owe it to yourself to ensure you’re visible. This is less about shouting out about who you are and what you can do and far more about making sure you float your ideas consistently and powerfully for greater impact.

If you’re not sure where to start, this is the least of your problems. This can be solved. There is a whole range of resources, free and otherwise, you can tap into at the click of a mouse or with a phone call. This is not really a problem.

This is something you can figure your way around.

Your biggest problem is figuring out whether this is something you should invest your time and energy on, whether it will give you the kind of returns you expect and whether you can last.

You need to understand the tremendous gain you will get from the journey and how you will be transformed in order for you to make it through the dark days and uncertain hours as you grapple your way forward. And the good news is that these gains go with you wherever you may be. I hope you will at least explore this a little in your own way before you decide against it. Sometimes, there’s no way to know for sure without dipping your feet in. For me, the hard yards were completely worth it. All the best, Rowena